Knock-down tobacco hogshead banding structure



Sept. 1, 1970 A. L. FORMO E1- AL 3,526,333

KNOCK-DOWN TOBACCO HOGSHEAD BANDING STRUCTURE Filed Aug. 5, 1968 Low carbon steel INVENTORS Arnold L Forrno BY Arnold L. Formo, Jr

LOW carbon steel h ATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,526,333 KNOCK-DOWN TOBACCO HOGSHEAD BANDING STRUCTURE Arnold L. Formo, 309 Lillian Road, and Arnold L. Formo, Jr., 1711 Hillcrest Drive, both of Wilson, N.C.

Filed Aug. 5, 1968, Ser. No. 750,127 Int. (:1. B65d 9/02, 11/06, 9/38 U.S. Cl. 217-44 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention The invention relates to knock-down tobacco hogsheads and more particularly to an improved metal strap or banding structure for such hogsheads. More specifically, the invention is directed to knock-down hogsheads of the type which can be broken down and stored in half-sections or mats when not in use and having a multiple of improved reinforcing bands which use conventional strapping tools to tighten and seal.

Description of the prior art Heretofore, it has been the practice in the tobacco industry to provide a disconnectable fastener for handing straps of metal or other suitable material for use in assembling tobacco hogsheads and various means have been used including both low and high carbon steel banding straps having holes punched or drilled therein for fastening to the hogshead staves, hingeahle banding straps e.g. see previously issued U.S. Pat. 3,173,567, and banding straps adapted to receive U-shaped connectors e.g. 2,946,- 473. The industry has generally avoided any type of fastener that would heavily stress low carbon steel banding because of its tendency to tear at the ends when pulled. Certain conventional hogsheads have used high carbon steel banding with prepunched holes for nails or the like even though the advantage of stitching low carbon steel banding has been recognized. The industry has also generally adopted banding structures and band connectors which while holding the hogshead half-sections together do not provide tight or pilfer-proof connections. In summary, in spite of the tremendous economic significance of each fastener detail affecting installation, fastening and disassembly, the industry does not have a simple fastener and particular one that can depend on use of low carbon steel banding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A tobacco hogshead banding according to the invention uses banding straps of low carbon steel which can be quickly attached to the staves by stitching without requiring prepunched or drilled holes therein and the ends of which terminate with reinforced, steel plates having slots such that the banding straps can be stressed and the hogshead halves tightly secured together and made pilfer-proof by running a separate short steel tie hand through opposed pairs of slots and then, with the straps stressed, tightening 3,526,333 Patented Sept. 1, 1970 and clamping this steel band with an ordinary steel seal which is clinched with an ordinary steel banding machine. A multiple of reinforced bands according to the invention can be used depending on the size of the hogshead. After the hogshead has been packed, the head which is ordinarily made of plywood with oak liners attached is put into place and sealed.

An object of this invention is to provide a pilfer-proof hogshead.

Another object of the invention is to provide an inexpensive banding for use with collapsible tobacco hogsheads which will obviate the drilling or punching of holes in the banding material, will allow the use of low carbon steel banding material and will allow the hogshead to be easily disassembled for storage.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hogshead banding which is sturdy and durable in construction, reliable and efiicient in operation, and relatively simple and inexpensive to manufacture and utilize.

A further object is to provide means to relieve the strain on the banding.

Another object is to provide a banding for hogsheads which can be removed and allow opening of the hogshead for inspection thereof Without having to remove the staples or nails.

Other and further objects will be apparent as the description proceeds and upon reference to the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the banding of the invention shown in working relation on the tobacco hogshead, the side not shown being identical to the side shown.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the reinforced banding of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the preferred embodiment for the banding strap where the reinforcing plates are welded to the strap prior to the punching of the slots.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective View of the reinforced banding and illustrating an alternate embodiment in which the strap ends have a slot punched therein prior to the welding of the prepunched reinforcing plates to the ends thereof.

FIG. 6 is an exploded fragmentary perspective view illustrating a staple being placed through a section of strap devoid of prepunched holes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring now to the drawings in general and more particularly to FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 designates a hoghead or the like which may be of the usual construction having a plurality of wooden or plywood staves or side members 11 being arranged in half-section groups or mats, each group extending approximately half the circumference of the hogshead. The hogshead top and bottom members 12 (only the top being shown for illustrative convenience), conventionally made of plywood and an oak liner, are seated beneath cleat members 13 on each end of the staves, the cleats 13 being secured to the inner surface of the staves by any suitable means and serving as abutments for the top and bottom and to maintain the top and bottom in operative position. To secure the staves in position, a plurality of bands are provided, each band includes first low carbon steel straps 14 having slots 15 punched in the terminal ends thereof. Straps 14 are secured to each half hogshead by means of staples 16 formed of metal stitch wire and which extend through straps 14 and into the wooden staves 11 and cleat members 3. The invention, of course, also adapts itself to other hogshead material such as plywood, fiber board and the like. Reinforcing steel plates 17 having slots 18 corresponding to slots 15 of straps 1-4 are integrally secured to the terminal ends of straps 14 by welding or any other suitable means. The material chosen for the plates 17 should be such that plates lend themselves both to welding and punching operations. Once straps 14 are secured to staves 11 by means of staples 16, the hogshead halves are ready to be assembled together.

The hogshead halves are placed together and tie straps of conventional banding material '20 are passed through the mating slots formed by slots 15 and 18 at the terminal ends of straps 14. By reason of the reinforcement provided by plates 17, the banding 20 can be stressed and drawn tight by use of a conventional banding machine, not shown, and a steel clip or seal '21 clinched over the overlapping portions. Banding 20 should, of course, have a substantially high tensile strength and this can be obtained in a low carbon steel so as to retain the advantage of being able to machine stitch banding 20 to the staves 11.

As has been previously mentioned the prior art practices have been that of using steel banding but not in such form as to achieve tear strength at the band ends and to allow machine stitching of the banding. High carbon steel banding in particular while it may exhibit end tear strength requires prepunching of nail holes or the like. The present invention circumvents this problem by using a low carbon steel band 14 which as illustrated in FIG. 6 is unpunched and is easily penetrated by nails, staples formed from wire, individual staples or the like and which may be machine stitched as a further economy. The end tear strength is obtained in the invention by the mentioned steel reinforcing plates 17 which are integrally secured to strap 14 by welding or the like. It is preferred that plates 17 be welded to straps 14 as in FIG. 4 and that the ends of strap 14 and respective plates -17 be punched after the plates are so secured. Alternatively, as in FIG. 5, the strap ends and plates may be prepunched and then assembled after punching.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the banding structure of the invention provides an essentially pilferproof and tight connection. Furthermore, use of low carbon steel banding eliminates the need for hole punching but nevertheless with the reinforcing end plates provides both the necessary end tear strength as well as a means for bringing the band ends together under stress for forming tight-half-section connections.

No hinge, hinge pin or comparable small parts are required. Staples may be rapidly machine stitched through the banding to secure the banding and staves thus avoiding the impractical practice of straddling high carbon steel banding with staples or using nails in drilled or prepunched holes. A special characteristic of the present banding structure which enhances its practical utility is the fact that it enables a hogshead of the invention to be used as a switchable hogshead i.e. the half-sections of the invention can be put around a cylinder of tobacco from which a conventional hogshead has been removed without the usual requirement of having to repack the tobacco. While substiute lightweight hogsheads have been proposed for shipping tobacco cylinders (see Smith Pat. 3,120,917), the conventional, heavy duty hogshead does not lend itself to receiving a previously packed tobacco cylinder.

While the invention may take other forms, in one successful embodiment the reinforcing pads were made of 14 gauge, electro-galvanized, mild steel, the banding straps were made of 2" wide, 20 gauge low carbon annealed steel; high tensile steel tie straps; and 18 gauge stitching wire in an Acme-Morrison metal stitcher, Model N2A was employed. The pads were welded to the ends of the banding straps and then punched with the respective barding strap ends. This combination was found to provide strength sufficient both to hold the tie strap as well as to withstand the pressure caused when prizing the hogshead. Further, the banding straps were easily stitched to the staves. The terms low carbon and high carbon are well understood. In the present invention low carbon will be understood as providing a carbon steel that is machine stitchable but below normally required end tear strength, whereas high carbon means that the strapping cannot be machine stitched to the staves even though it may provide the required tear strength.

We claim:

1. In a wooden stave hogshead of the reusable type having a hollow open ended body portion formed by a pair of detachably connected oppositely disposed integral halfsections comprising connected wooden staves and top and bottom sections adapted to close the ends after filling, an improved banding structure for permanently securing the staves in said half-sections while providing a temporary detachable connection for joining said half-sections to form said body:

(a) a plurality of low carbon steel banding straps mounted on and extending peripherally around each said half-section and extending across and spaced lengthwise of the staves forming such half-section, said banding straps being devoid of prepunched nail holes and the like and terminating with unbent single thickness free ends disposed adjacent the respective edges of said half-sections to be joined, the material forming said banding straps being machine stitchable to said Wooden staves and normally exhibiting a strap end tear strength below the normal requirements;

(b) a plurality of metal staple fasteners driven through each said banding strap into the respective Wooden staves and being etfective to permanently secure said bands to and said staves in said half-section relation;

'(c) a pair of fiat rectangular thin metal reinforcing pads integrally Welded to the respective said free ends of each said banding strap and including a punched opening extending through each respective combined strap and end pad, the material forming said pads exhibiting suflicient tear strength to provide reinforcement and the normal required tear strength for said free ends when placed and held under the usual stress;

(d) a plurality of high tensile strength tie straps each being looped through a respective pair of oppositely disposed banding strap end openings and being tightened within the tear strength limits of said reinforced banding strap ends to temporarily secure the said half-sections; and

' (e) clinching means to secure said tie straps whereby knock-down of said hogshead requires severing of said tie straps.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS RAPHAEL H. SCHWARTZ, Primary Examiner US. Cl. XJR. 

